Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 (No. 117) - Spain (Ratification: 1973)

Parts I and II of the Convention. Article 2. Improvement of standards of living. The Committee notes the Government’s detailed report for the period ending June 2013, the observations of the General Union of Workers (UGT) and the reply made by the Government in that regard. The Government states that “improving living and working conditions” is an objective which has to be maintained in future with increased intensity by promoting the retention and creation of employment, as part of the recovery from the difficult economic situation that Spain is experiencing. The UGT expressed its concern at the impact on the application of Article 2 of the Convention of the measures adopted by the Government since March 2012 in relation to health assistance for foreign nationals. The Government explains that, under the new regulations, legal foreign residents are guaranteed the same protection as Spanish nationals, while those who are not in a legal situation will receive health care solely under specific conditions, without this differentiation amounting to discrimination of any type within the meaning of the applicable European and Spanish regulations. In its communication, the UGT also criticizes the changes made to the programme of active integration benefits (RAI) for unemployed persons with special economic needs and difficulties in finding employment. The UGT argues that, in practice, the nature of the benefit has been changed, giving rise to the marginalization of certain categories. With reference to the UGT’s criticisms, the Government indicates that Convention No. 117 refers to the basic aims and standards of social policy, and does not include any provisions on social security benefits or unemployment benefits which might be deemed to be prejudiced by the changes to the programme of active integration benefits. The Committee invites the Government to provide information so that it can examine whether the “improvement of standards of living” has been regarded as the “principal objective in the planning of economic development”. In particular, please provide the information requested in the report form on the minimum standards of living of independent producers and wage earners (Article 5) and of migrant workers (Articles 6–9).